A STUDY ON CONSUMER SATISFACTION AT VARIOUS

DEPARTMENTAL

STORE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HINJILICUT CITY

Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

BCOM Honours

By

CHINMAYA JENA

To the

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
SCIENCE DEGREE COLLEGE KONORADA

Submitted by Guided by
CHINMAYA JENA ASHARANIPATTNAIK
SK2321665 HOD
 CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the work contained in the project report titled “A STUDY
ON CONSUMER SATISFACTION AT VARIOUS DEPARTMENTAL STORE
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HINJILICUT CITY,” by “CHINMAYA JENA ,”
has been carried out under my supervision and that this work has not been
submitted elsewhere for a degree.

Signature of Supervisor:

Name: ASHARANI PATTNAIK

Department: Commerce

SCIENCE DEGREE COLLEGE KONORADA

FAB 2025
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project report entitled “A STUDY ON

CONSUMER SATISFACTION AT VARIOUS DEPARTMENTAL STORE WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HINJILICUT CITY “was carried out by me for the
degree of BCOM Honours under the guidance and supervision of
ASHARANI PATTNAIK(HOD) of Department of Commerce, SCIENCE
DEGREE College. The interpretations put forth are based on my
reading and understanding of the original texts and they are not
published anywhere in any form. The other books, articles and websites,
which I have made use of are acknowledged at the respective place in
the text. This research report is not submitted for any other degree or
diploma in any other University.

Place: Hinjilicut
Name of the Student:Chinmaya jena
Class & Section: BCOM Honours
Date:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my research

guide Asharani Pattnaik, Associate Professor of Department of
Commerce for her valuable suggestions and guidance and for giving me
the golden opportunity to do this wonderful research project on the
topic: - A study on consumer satisfaction at various departmental store
with special reference to Bhopal city. Without her help it would have
been difficult for me to have reached this state of completion of my
project report. Also, I would like to thank my parents and friends who
helped me a lot in the preparation of this project.
I wish to acknowledge the help of all those who have provided me
information, guidance and other help during my research period.
 CONTENTS

• NTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

• LITERATURE REVIEW

• RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• DATA REPRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

• RESULTS ,FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

• CONCLUSION
1.Introduction of the Topic

Customer satisfaction is a measure of how product and services

supplied by a company can meet the customer expectations. Customer
satisfaction is still one of the single strongest predictors of customer
retention. It's considerably more expensive to attract new customers
than it is to keep old ones happy. In climate of decreasing brand loyalty
understanding customer service and measuring customer satisfaction
are very crucial. There is obviously a strong link between customer
satisfaction and customer retention. Customer perception of service
and quality of product will determine the success of the product or
service in the market
With better understanding of customer perceptions companies
can determine the customer needs and actions required to meet the
the customers needs. They can identify their own strength and
weaknesses where they stand in comparison to their competitors chart
out Parth future progress and improvement. Customer satisfaction
measurement helps to promote an increased focus on customer
outcomes and stimulates improvements in the work practices and
processes used within the company.
Inefficiency in the existing supply chains presents for the
opportunity for organised players to draw on this large market even as
lack of consumer culture and low purchasing power restricted the
development of modern formats. Migration from an organised or
organised retail has been visible with economic development in most
countries. The Indian retail industry is the fifth largest in the world.
Comprising of organised and unorganised sectors India retail industry is
one of the fastest growing industries in India specially over the last few
years. Though initially the retail industry in India was mostly an
organised however with the change of taste and preferences of the
consumers the industry is getting more popular these days and getting
organised as well. With growing market demand the industry is
expected to grow at a pace of 25 to 30% annually

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR : MEANING AND DEFINITION –

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individual customers groups or

organisations select buy, use and dispose ideas goods and services to
satisfy their needs and wants. 51st to the actions of the consumer in the
marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions. Marketers
expect that by understanding what causes the consumers to buy
particular goods and services they will be able to determine which
products are needed in the marketplace and which are obsolete and how
best to present the goods to the consumers.
¶ personal factors such as age gender education and income level
¶psychological factors such as buying motives perceptions of the
product and attitude towards the product.
¶ situational factors such as physical surroundings at the time of
purchase social surroundings and time factor.
¶ social factors such as social status reference groups and family
Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals groups or organisations
and all the activities associated with the purchase use and disposal of
goods and services including the consumers emotional mental and
behavioural responses that precede or follow these activities.
Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1947 fifties as a distinct sub
discipline in the marketing area. Consumer behaviour is an
interdisciplinary social science that blanks elements from psychology
sociology social anthropology anthropology ethnography marketing and
economics specially behavioural economics. It examines how emotions
attitudes and preferences affect buying behaviour. Characteristics of
individual consumers such as demographics personality lifestyles and
several variables such as usage rates usse location loyalty
brand advocacy willingness to provide a difference in an attempt to
understand peoples wants and consumption are all investigated in
formal studies of consumer behaviour. The study of consumer
behaviour also investigates the influences on the consumer from group
such as family friends for its reference groups and society in general.

INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRY –

The Indian retail sector is witnessing tremendous growth with the

changing demographics and then improvement in the quality of life of
urban people. The growing influence of India's consuming class the
emergence of retail entrepreneurs and a variety of imported products
particularly in the food and grocery segment has been one of the main
drivers for the current retail boom in the domestic market. Retailing is
defined as a definite set of activities or steps used to sell a product or
services to consumers for their personal or family use. It is responsible
for matching individual demands of the consumer which supplies of all
the manufacturers. Retail is India's largest industry accounting for over
10% of the country's GDP and around 8% of the employment. The
scenario has changed after the LPG revolution. In late 90s government
of India tried to create the bubble by allowing the global players in the
retail arena. The government allows 100% foreign direct investment in
cash and carry through the automatic route and 51% in single
brand.retail is among the fastest growing sectors in the country. India
reigns first ahead of Russia in terms of emerging markets potential in
retail and is deemed a priority one market for international retail.
A retailer or retail store is any business enterprise whose sales volume
comes primarily from retailing. Retail organisation exhibit great variety
and new forms keep in emerging. There are store retailers non store
retailers in retail organisations. Consumer's today can shop for goods
and services in a wide variety of stores. The best-known type of retailer
is the department store. Japanese department store searches
takashimaya and mitsukoshi attract millions of shoppers each year.
These stores feature art galleries cooking classes and children's
playgrounds. Retailer is at the end of the distributive channel. He
provides goods and services to the ultimate consumers. This he does
through his small organisation with the help of a few personal. In an
individual retail store
With that end in view he has to pursue a policy to achieve his objective.
This policy is called retailing mix. A little mix is the package of goods
and services that store offers to the customers for sale. It is the
combination of all efforts playing by the retailer and ine embodies the
the adjustment of the retail store to the market environment. Retailing
mix communication mix and distribution mix. The maximum
satisfaction to the customers is achieved by a proper blend of all three.
The success of the retail stores therefore depends on customers
reaction to the retailing mix which influences the profits of the store its
volume of turnover its share of the market its image and status and
finally it survival.
 NTRODUCTION TO COMPANY PROFILE -
RELIANCE FRESH

Reliance industries limited (RIL) is an Indian multinational

conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Reliance on business across
India engaged in energy petrochemicals textiles natural resources retail
and telecommunications. Reliance is one of the most profitable
companies in India the largest publicly traded company in India by
market capitalisation and the largest company in India as measured by
revenue after recently surpassing the government control Indian oil
corporation. It is also the 8th largest employer in India with nearly
195000 employees. On 10 September 2020 reliance industries become
the first Indian company to cross $ 200 billion in market capitalisation.
The company is 996 on the fortune global 500 list of the world's biggest
corporations as of 2020. It is bend it among the top 250 global energy
companies by platts as of 2016. Reliance continues to be India's largest
exporter accounting for 80% of India's total merchandise exports with a
value of rupees 147 755 crore and access to markets in 108 countries.
Reliance is responsible for almost 5% of the government of India total
revenues from customs and excise duty. It is also the highest income
tax payer in the private sector in India.
Reliance fresh is the retail chain division of reliance industries of India
which is headed by Mukesh dhirubhai ambani. Reliance has entered
into this segment by opening in new retail stores in two almost every
metropolitan and regional area of India. Reliance plans to invest rupees
25000 crores in the next two years in the the retail division and plans to
begin retail store in 784 cities across the country. The supermarts will
sell fresh fruits and vegetables staples groceries fresh juice and dairy
products and also spot a separate and closure and supply chain for non
vegetarian products.

AAPOORTI

Aapoorti started with a small 500 square feet area at indrapuri and
since there it's flourishing in the business of retail there now we are
operating with five hypermarkets and three super markets with over
1.5 lakh software product currently dealing in the ki supplement areas
of FMCG daily needs garments shoes households etc. Mithun a village
football of 10000 customers per day. Now we have more than 2.5 let
satisfied customers in Bhopal itself. We offer a wide range of food
products for all your everyday needs with a huge range of options in
every category write from fresh cereal, rice Dal spices and seasonings
to packaged product beverages personal care products households and
even garments and shoes. We offer you the best quality grocery
products which you can buy online and have them delivered to you
conveniently. Aapurti has always focused on providing the best value to
its customers. Exclusive offers and best prices give our customer more
than one reason to come back for more.
Mr Imran khan is the founder and managing director of aapoorti
shopping mall limited wholesale degree in fca and an immense amount
of experience in retailing. He found aapoorti shopping mall limited 2002
to fulfill his vision to penetrate and take potential of all the available
retail channel.
We believe in a more valuable and less invasive way where customers
are earned rather than bought. Our vision is to connect every home and
provide autofill facility of daily needs. We aim to watch omnichannel
retail concept to tap into all the potential retail channels like brick-and-
mortar deliveries, virtual markets automatized stores and automatized
homes etc. Aapurti believes in providing the highest level of customer
service and discontinuous innovation to meet customers expectations.
We aim to be India's dominant and pioneering omnichannel grocery
retailer by redefining India freshest and finest product experience.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE TOPIC -

Customer satisfaction should be considered a vital component of any

business because it provides marketers and business owners with a
metric that can be used to measure and improve business performance
from a customer perspective. Not only is it a leading indicator of
consumer repurchase intentions and loyalty but it is also a great way to
understand if they will become long-term repeat customers or even
advocates. On the other hand it can also provide the initial warning
signs that a customer is unhappy and potentially at-risk of leaving. With
all this considered customer satisfaction can provide businesses with
crucial information to understand what aspects are successful and
where improvements need to be made
Between a competitive marketplace where businesses are constantly
competing for customers customer satisfaction is often seen as a key
differentiator of an acting as a final purchase trigger point. Businesses
that tend to succeed in this hostile environments are the ones that
make customer satisfaction Central to their business strategy. Buy
regularly measuring and tracking customer satisfaction you can make
informed decisions to put new processes in place to increase the overall
quality of your customer service and elevate yourself above the
competition. Therefore it is one of the leading metrics used to measure
customer repurchase and customer retention.
A totally satisfied customer contributes 2.6 times more revenue than a
somewhat satisfied customer. Further more totally satisfied customer
contributes for 14 times more revenue than a somewhat dissatisfied
customer.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW –

According to Leif E.Hem(2001) "retail stores with fire protection should

provide consumers with greater risk and show encourage more positive
evaluations then return store follow application this notion should be
true for FMCG".
Bottomley and holden (2001) propose that"the quality of the parent
retail store and different between the pen and retail stores in the retail
store selection RK determinants of consumer evaluations of retail
stores selections". And reveal that"cultural differences influence how
retail stores elections are evaluated with respect to relative
measurement factors". Also propose"consumers retail stores selection
evaluations are also determined by the dimensions of fit (that is the
complimentarily and transfer ability of assets and skills between the
parent retail stores and the retail store selection and to what extent
consumers perceive the retail store selection is difficult to produce".
Klink and Smith(2001) explain that"the success of a retail stores
extension is largely determined by how customers evaluate the
selection".
Martinez and Pina (2003) argued that line selection decreases the risk
of failure of new products because consumers initially are more willing
to accept products marketed under known retail stores.Martinez and
Pina defines that "this strategy is not free from this since it is not
convenient for all the retail stores and moreover it may have negative
effects on the image of the extended retail stores".
Marketing mastermind (2003) "HUL rural marketing initiatives have
given the perspectives in which HUL has approach towards rural
marketing,"Keller(2003) argues that " the retail stores selections allow
consumers to draw conclusions and form expectations about the
potential performance of a new product based on their existing
knowledge about the retail stores".
Keller (2003) reveal that "firstly selections can clarify the retail stores
meaning to consumers and define the boundaries of the domain in
which it competes".Keller propose that " a new or rejuvenated product
can be a mean to renew interest and improve attitude towards the
parantu retail stores". According to keller "the image of the parent
retail stores can be heard irrespective of the success or failure of the
selection".
Balachandar and Ghose(2003) reveal that "forward spillover effects
from advertising of a parent retail stores on choice of a retail store
selections are limited".
The findings of mortimer(2003)suggest that "retail store selection
makes economical sense to try to deliver the same emotional benefits
in a different market. According to the mortimer companies should do
the retail store selection to a large extent new product introduction are
crucial for a firm to sustain its longterm competition".
According to Keller retail store selection allows customers to draw
conclusion and form expectation about the potential performance of a
new product based on their existing knowledge about the retail stores.
Kim and John (2008) defines that consumer's evaluate retail stores
elections on the basis of their perceived fit with the parent retail store.

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY –

Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to

identify collect and analyse information about a topic. The important
uses of research methodology is that it helps in identifying the problem
collecting and analysing the required information data and providing an
alternative solution to the problem. It also helps in collecting the vital
information that is required by the top management to assist them for
the better decision making both day-to-day decision and critical ones.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY –

• To know the customer satisfaction at the store.

•To identify the factors that influence the customers to choose the
store.
•To know the variety of products available according to the needs of
the customer.
•To measure the consumer perception towards selection of retail
store.
•To a consumer perception retail store wise.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS –

1) Departmental store - a department store is a retail establishment

offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the
store,each department specialising in a product category.

2) Customer preference - it is the crucial factor in the competitive

field customer satisfaction could greatly affect predicting
customers post purchase behaviour..

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS –
1)H0 - Customers has less satisfaction in aapoorti store.
2) H1 - Customers has more satisfaction in reliance fresh than aapoorti
store.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY –
Customer satisfaction can be interpreted as a response of the
interaction between the organisation and their customer. Moreover
customer satisfaction cannot be restricted to the provided service or
product. There is something else that is customer expectations,
perception, taste and preferences, buying behaviour and income level
with respect to customer satisfaction.
The benefit of the server is that it gives the management and education
of general levels of satisfaction of the customers. The survey also helps
and indicating the specific areas of satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the
marketplace. This server can tell how a customer feels about the
supermarket and it helps a diagnostic instrument for assessing
customer problems. For the supermarket a satisfied customer will gives
higher productivity due to fewer desruptions caused by changes in the
economy all losing the loyal customer etc.
Customer expectation differs from person to person. The supermarkets
assigned to a customer should be of interest to them.
TYPE OF DATA USED –
Primary data - primary data is the kind of data that is collected directly
from the data source without going through any existing sources. It is
mostly collective specially for a research project and may be shared
publicly to be used for other research. Primary data is often reliable
authentic and objective in as much as it was collected with the purpose
of addressing a particular research problem.
SAMPLE SIZE - The sample size was 100 but collected only 60 responses.

METHOD USED - QUESTIONNAIRE

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA – HINJILICUT CITY
DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE - PIE CHARTS
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY –
Possibility of errors in data collection because many of investors may
have not given actual answers of my questionnaire.
Some of the persons were not so responsive.
Sample size is limited to 100 respondents of Hinjilicut
The sample size may not adequately represent the whole market
Some respondent were reluctant to divulge personal information which
can affect the validity of all responses.
The research is confined to a certain part of Hinjilicut
DATA REPRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS –

In my research, the male respondents were 56.7%whereas the female

respondents were 43.3%.

In my research, I have mainly focused on the age group between 18 -

45
which is 98.3%of total 100%.
In the research, 71.7% respondents visits Reliance Fresh whereas only
28.3% respondents visits Aapoorti. It clearly shows how people are
satisfied with the reliance Fresh services.. Aapoorti should make some
changes so that visitors can be increased as compared to reliance Fresh.
In the research, 52.9% respondents of aapoorti prefer to buy grocery
from the store whereas 81.4% respondents of reliance Fresh prefer to
buy grocery from it which shows that people mainly visit the stores for
grocery.Aapoorti is good for clothes as many respondents visit the store
for clothes as compared to reliance Fresh.
In the research, 76.5% respondents says they find the items easily in
aapoorti store whereas 83.7% respondents says that they find the
product easily in reliance Fresh. So, the fact interpreted from this can
be that the aaporti should place the products at right place and should
provide direction to the visitors so that they can find the product easily.
Around 70.6% respondents of aaporti store are satisfied with the
services provided to them by aaporti store. Around 62.8% respondents
of reliance Fresh are satisfied with the services provided by the store
whetas 27.9% respondents are not sure about it.
39.5% respondents of reliance Fresh says that prices charged are
reasonable vwheres 35.3% respondents of aapoorti feels that prices
charged are reasonable. 53.5%respondwnts says on some product of
reliance Fresh whereas 52.9% respondents of aapoorti says price are
reasonable on some product.
62.8% respondents says covid safety measures are taken in reliance
Fresh where as 52.9% respondents says covid measures are taken in
aapoorti store. Which shows that both the stores are not following the
covid protocols 100%. They should start follow the rules of covid as it
will highly impact the revenue of the stores
70.6% respondents of aapoorti didn't used online app of the store
wheras 65.1% respondents of reliance Fresh also didn't used the online
app of the store. Both the store should promote their app as it will help
them to provide goods to their customers.
41.2% respondents of aapoorti are agree to the point that the store is
clean and hygienic wheras in reliance Fresh 53.5% respondents are
agree tobthe above point. 14% respondents of reliance Fresh are
strongly agree tobthe above point wheras 0% respondents of aapoorti
are strongly agree to the point.
58.1%respondents are satisfied at reliance Fresh whereas only 47.1%
respondents are satisfied at aapoorti
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
MAJOR FINDINGS –
The reputation of the retail stores is a crucial factor influencing the
likelihood of successful retail store selections.
It was found that the retail stores selection stops consumers to switch
over to some other retail stores.
The success and failure of the retail store selection highly effective the
Goodwill of the parent brands.
Selection provides a wide variety of goods under a single retail stores.
It was found that retail stores selection affects the loyalty of the
consumers.
It was found that the quality of the extended product is not always
better than the previous one.
The awareness and trust about the retail stores is a strong factor to
reduce the risk of failure of new product.
It was found that the selection should be according to the expectation
of the customers.
More number of people prefer to visit reliance fresh as compared to
apoorti store.
Consumers goes to reliance fresh mainly for grocery where as many
visits aapoorti for clothes.
Both the stores were cleaned , hygiene and well maintained.
Many peoples were not aware about the the online app of the stores.
SUGGESTIONS –
Both the stores should increase their variety of products, so that the
consumer can get the necessary products under one roof.
Stores should follow the covid-19 guidelines.
Reliance fresh should appoint an efficient employee at the cash
counter, so that the billing system could be made faster and easier for
the customers, and it will also increase the level of satisfaction of the
customers.
Both the stores should promote their online app as it is found in the
research that the customers are not aware about the online app of the
store.
Due to covid-19 pendemic, both stores should popularize their app so
that there won't be much crowd in the store, and will also help to stop
spelling of coronavirus.
CONCLUSIONS –
Here's the conclusion to my research project. Reliance fresh is one of
the subsidiary of reliance group of companies under Mukesh ambani
with more than 1000 outlets across the country serving over 2.5
millions of customers.
Mostly the age group between 18 to 45 years visits the store.
The study of the report shows there many people prefer to go to
reliance fresh rather than aapurti store.
The study of my report shows that the people visits the reliance store in
a month To buy grocery.
Many people visit aapoorti frequently to buy clothes.
The study shows that the customers find their products easily in
reliance fresh. The billing system of aapoorti is fast due to less crowd.
People are more satisfied by the services provided at the the reliance
store.
This study shows that, in both the stores, prices charged are reasonable
only on some product.
The study shows that the reliance fresh offers high quality products.
 The customers are not satisfied by the safety measures taken by the
stores.
Both the stores are moderately hygienic and clean.
The study shows that most people are satisfied from the reliance fresh